Triangle
Main title caption for the series
Genre	prime time soap-opera
Created by	Bill Sellars
Directed by	Marc Miller John Bird Andrew Morgan Darrol Blake and Terence Dudley[1]
Starring	Kate O'Mara Larry Lamb Michael Craig
Opening theme	Johnny Pearson
Composer(s)	Johnny Pearson
Country of origin	UK
No. Prime Time is the major News analysis current affairs and Politics programme broadcast on Radio Telefís Éireann in Ireland A soap opera is an ongoing episodic work of Fiction, usually broadcast on Television or Radio. Bill Sellars was a prolific British television producer, most active from the 1960s to the 80s Marc W Miller (born 1947 is an American Game designer. Miller was one of the founding partners of the Game Designers' Workshop (GDW and the original John Bird may refer to John Bird (actor, British actor and comedian John Bird (entrepreneur, founder of The Big Issue Andrew Morgan ( March 13, 1901, Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana – September 19, 1972, New Orleans) was an American Terence Dudley was a Television director and producer who directed many programmes for the BBC over a number of years Kate O'Mara (b August 10 1939, Leicester) is an English film and television actress Larry Lamb (born October 1943 is an English Actor who has worked frequently in television Michael Craig (born Michael Francis Gregson; 27 January 1929) is a British actor known for his work in Film and Television Johnny Pearson (born June 18, 1925, Chesterfield, Derbyshire) is a British Composer and Pianist. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located of seasons	3
Production
Producer(s)	Bill Sellars
Story editor(s)	Ted Rhodes
Location(s)	DFDS Tor Scandinavia
Running time	30 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	BBC1
Original run	1981 – 1983
External links
IMDb profile

Triangle was a BBC television soap opera in the early 1980s, set aboard a North Sea ferry which sailed between Felixstowe, Rotterdam and Gothenburg, a route which forms a triangle when plotted on a map, as does any journey between three points owing to the fact that it is pretty basic geometry. A soap opera is an ongoing episodic work of Fiction, usually broadcast on Television or Radio. The 1980s was the decade spanning from January 1 1980 to December 31 1989. The North Sea is a marginal, Epeiric sea of the Atlantic Ocean on the European Continental shelf. See also Merchant ship A ferry is a form of transport usually a Boat or Ship, used to carry (or ferry) passengers and Felixstowe is a seaside town on the North Sea coast of Suffolk, England. Rotterdam (pronounced) is the 2nd-largest City by population in the Netherlands, located in the province of Gothenburg ( Swedish:) /jœte'bɔrj/ is a city, a municipality, and an urban area on the west-coast of Sweden. ---- In mathematics Three is the first odd Prime number, and the second smallest prime Geometry ( Greek γεωμετρία; geo = earth metria = measure is a part of Mathematics concerned with questions of size shape and relative position The series ran for three seasons before being cancelled, but is still generally remembered as "some of the most mockable British television ever produced". ^[2] The scripts involved clichéd relationships and stilted dialogue, making the show the butt of several jokes (particularly on Terry Wogan's morning Radio 2 programme) which caused some embarrassment to the BBC. Sir Michael Terence Wogan, KBE DL (born August 3 1938 more commonly known as Terry Wogan, is a veteran Irish Radio and Television

In 1992, the BBC screened TV Hell, an evening of programming devoted to the worst television had to offer, and the first episode of Triangle was broadcast as part of the line-up. Year 1992 ( MCMXCII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar) TV Hell was a BBC2 theme night broadcast on August 31 1992, and was the first time the format was used by a UK TV channel

Production limitations

Interviewed for an earlier TV Hell segment in 1992, the show's producer, Bill Sellars, spoke of several problems with the show's production.

Using a ferry as the setting for a television series originally looked like a promising idea. The regular cast, playing the crew, could be joined by a constantly-changing guest cast playing the passengers as the ship sailed to interesting European locations. Advances in portable cameras and recording equipment meant that the show could actually be videotaped on board a real ferry boat for a fraction of the cost of using a studio for interiors.

Unfortunately the plan was revealed to be flawed almost as soon as shooting began. Filmed largely in the North Sea, the inclement weather made the exterior scenes appear gloomy and dull, and far from glamorous. In making the first episode Kate O'Mara had to endure a scene in which she sunbathes topless on a clearly freezing deck. Kate O'Mara (b August 10 1939, Leicester) is an English film and television actress

Another problem involved lighting. The cameras were perfectly comfortable with both natural and artificial lighting conditions, but a mixture of the two always produced unnatural-looking colour. This meant that interior scenes always had to be shot with the windows or portholes curtained - so that as far as the audience was concerned they might as well have been shot in a studio anyway.

The relatively new "electronic field production" (i. e. portable video) technology used for location footage in place of the traditional 16mm film also exhibited serious problems due (amongst other things) to the movement of the ship. The motion of the ship also induced seasickness in many of the production crew, making filming an uncomfortable experience. Seasickness is a form of Motion sickness characterized by a feeling of Nausea and in extreme cases vertigo experienced after spending time on a craft ^[2]

Consequences of cancellation

Unusually for an early evening soap opera on British television at that time the show was screened three times a week. The show's eventual cancellation led to a wide-reaching review of the BBC's early evening schedule, which ultimately resulted in the commissioning of EastEnders. EastEnders is a most popular and award-winning Television Soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC1 on 19 February 1985

Featured location

The ferry used in the series was the DFDS Tor Scandinavia. DFDS A/S, an abbreviation of Det Forenede Dampskibs-Selskab (literally The United Steamship Company) is a Danish Shipping company. History Tor Line service Tor Line had been established in 1966 by two Swedish companies to operate car-passenger services between Sweden England

References

1. ^ Detailed list of which director helmed which episode
2. ^ ^{a b} Kibble-White, Graham. "Little England". offthetelly.co.uk. May 2001.